ARCHERS STORES LTD

🌳Matureactive
04514952 · ltd · incorporated 2002-08-20
Investment thesis
Well-run mature business — low negotiation leverage; premium likely.
Why interesting: Textbook target; clean filings, stable trading.
Why risky: No pressure on seller; any deal likely at full price.
Opportunity decay
hardening · 12-months
Already tight — no obvious softening catalysts on the horizon.
  • · Thesis: well-run, low negotiation leverage
🔒Estimated value
—
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Turnover
—
year to Aug 2025
Net worth
£144.9k
book net assets
Opportunity
82/100
Exceptional
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What this business does
Primary activity: Retail sale in non-specialised stores with food, beverages or tobacco predominating
Sector: Wholesale & retail
Investor take
Pursue
Asset-holding vehicle with a 74-year-old founder — textbook succession opportunity.

Opportunity 82/100 (exceptional), bankability 85/100. Strong seller-intent signal (83/100, director aged 74). Share purchase looks the cleaner deal structure. Biggest value-creation lever: Cash flow review and working-capital discipline. Cash down -36% YoY — forensic review of receivables, stock turns, and creditor days. Most likely exit: share sale to pe / searcher (65/100).

🏦

Refinance opportunity

1 live charge · oldest 22.6y

45/100
under pressure

Refinance would be pressure-driven, not opportunity-driven. Expect tighter margins and covenant scrutiny.

  • · Oldest live charge is 22.6 years old — likely at or near maturity.
  • · Single lender — cleanest path to refinance.
  • · Cashflow trend is negative — lender view likely cautious.

Data confidence

Overall: medium (79/100)

Adequate coverage. AI outputs are reliable for the sections scored high; verify the rest in diligence.

Company profile
address, 1 SIC codes, incorporation date
100
Financials
2 years of iXBRL accounts extracted (YoY deltas available) + narrative notes parsed
75
Lenders & charges
1 charges (1/1 with lender, 1/1 with type)
90
Directors & officers
6 officers (3 active, 6 linked, 3 with DOB)
80
Ownership & PSC
2 active PSC(s) of 2 total, 2 with control declared
90
Director network
1 connected companies via shared directors
48
Filing history
63 filings on record
85
Gazette notices
No matching gazette notices (standard for active companies)
60
Opportunity Score
82/100Exceptional
PassWatchWorth a lookStrongExceptional 

Strong composite across quality, acquirability, and risk. High-priority target — progress to serious diligence.

Business quality
70
Active, clean filings, stable charge profile.
Acquirability
80
Strong succession / seller-readiness signals.
Risk profile
85
Few red flags.
Signal strength
100
Good data coverage for analysis.

Signals from accounts

Derived from iXBRL accounts · FRS 102
Positive net assets
Net assets £144,875
Net assets shrinking
Down £45,990 YoY
Cash YoY
-36%
Year on year

Key financials

2 years extracted from filed iXBRL accounts
Cash
£114k
↓ 36% YoY
Net Worth
£145k
↓ 24% YoY
Current Assets
£173k
↓ 25% YoY
Current Liabilities
—
£0£46k£92k£138k£184k£230kAug 2024Aug 2025

Hover to see exact values · click legend to toggle series

Financials

Extracted from Companies House accounts · FRS 102
Metric2025-08-312024-08-31
Total assets£144.9k£220.3k
Current assets£173.5k£230.3k
Cash£113.9k£177.1k
Debtors£59.6k£28.2k
Net assets£144.9k£190.9k

Amounts extracted automatically from iXBRL. Fields left blank were not reported or not mapped. Values in GBP unless stated.

Recent activity

Last 30 days
0
filings
Last 90 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Last 180 days
1
filing
  • • 1 accounts
Counts from Companies House filing history.
Corporate timeline (27 events)Click to expand
  1. 2026-05-13
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  2. 2025-08-01
    📍
    change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
    address · AD01
  3. 2025-05-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  4. 2024-07-22
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  5. 2023-06-25
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  6. 2022-06-15
    📄
    mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
    mortgage · MR04
  7. 2022-06-15
    🔓
    Charge satisfied #1
  8. 2022-05-29
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  9. 2022-02-01
    📄
    mortgage-charge-whole-release-with-charge-number
    mortgage · MR05
  10. 2021-05-31
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  11. 2020-05-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  12. 2019-05-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  13. 2018-05-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
    accounts · AA
  14. 2017-05-30
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  15. 2016-05-28
    📄
    accounts-with-accounts-type-total-exemption-full
    accounts · AA
  16. 2015-08-31
    📄
    annual-return-company-with-made-up-date-full-list-shareholders
    annual-return · AR01
  17. 2007-12-14
    ➖
    DANIELS, James resigned
    director
  18. 2004-09-01
    ➕
    DANIELS, James appointed
    director
  19. 2003-12-17
    🔒
    Charge registered #1
    Lender: National Westminster Bank PLC
  20. 2002-08-22
    ➕
    ARCHER, Valerie Jean appointed
    secretary
  21. 2002-08-22
    ➕
    ARCHER, Stephen Charles appointed
    director
  22. 2002-08-22
    ➕
    ARCHER, Valerie Jean appointed
    director
  23. 2002-08-22
    ➖
    @UKPLC CLIENT SECRETARY LTD resigned
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  24. 2002-08-22
    ➖
    @UKPLC CLIENT DIRECTOR LTD resigned
    corporate-nominee-director
  25. 2002-08-20
    🏢
    Company incorporated
    As ARCHERS STORES LTD
  26. 2002-08-20
    ➕
    @UKPLC CLIENT SECRETARY LTD appointed
    corporate-nominee-secretary
  27. 2002-08-20
    ➕
    @UKPLC CLIENT DIRECTOR LTD appointed
    corporate-nominee-director

Owner dependency

100/100
Critical — business is the founder

The business appears inseparable from the founder. Acquisition without a serious earn-out or meaningful transition period would likely destroy value.

FACTORS
  • +Two-director setup: Only two active directors — typical of owner-managed SMEs but limits succession.
  • +Founder name in company name: Company name contains director surname "ARCHER" — strong identity link between founder and business.
  • +Long-tenure founder: Senior director has been in place 24 years — deep operational knowledge concentrated in one person.
  • +Founder age: Director aged approximately 74 — succession pressure is live.
  • +Family involvement: Multiple officers share a surname — likely family business, which concentrates governance.

Succession & seller-readiness

96/100
Likely off-market candidate

Strong acquirability signals converging. Worth approaching directly — this is how off-market deals start.

SIGNALS
  • primaryFounder aged 70+: Senior director is approximately 74 years old. Natural succession window is now.
  • secondaryTwo-director governance: Small-team governance. Succession depth is thin but not absent.
  • primary20+ year tenure: Director in role 24 years. Very long tenure is a classic succession signal.
  • secondaryStable-but-static management: Company is 24 years old and no new directors in the last 3 years — succession not yet being planned internally.
  • supportingClean filings + long tenure: Disciplined long-tenure operator — classic lifestyle-business pattern that often sells quietly.

Red flags

clean
No red flags detected from available public data. (This is not a clean bill of health — detailed accounts review still recommended.)

Shareholders & ownership

2 active beneficial owners
NameSharesVoting rightsNature of controlNotified
Mr Stephen Charles Archer
Individual · British · DOB 12/1952 · age 74
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016
Mrs Valerie Jean Archer
Individual · British · DOB 05/1952 · age 74
25–50%
25–50%25-50% shares · 25-50% voting06/04/2016

From Companies House Persons with Significant Control filings. Share ranges are banded per the public PSC regime.

🔒Co-director network graph

Radial SVG graph showing every company connected via shared directors, colour-coded by status.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

See pricing →

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Peers ranked by estimated value, then turnover, then opportunity score.See all →
🔒Tailored diligence questions

7 specific questions generated from this company's actual signals — liquidity, leverage, director age, charge count, red flags, age-of-company.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

See pricing →
🔒Advanced scoring suite

Exit-route ranking, improvement thesis, quiet-distress detector, covenant-pressure proxy, extraction monitor, approaching triggers, ownership drift, local cluster, value trap, debt capacity, archetype classification — 48+ scoring modules.

Available from the Pro tier upwards.

See pricing →

Company details

Statusactive
Typeltd
Incorporated2002-08-20
Jurisdictionengland-wales
Primary SIC47110 — Retail sale in non-specialised stores with food, beverages or tobacco predominating

Registered office

20 Meadow View Earls Ditton Lane
Hopton Wafers
Kidderminster
DY14 0NE
England

Filing status

Accounts
Next due: 2027-05-31
Last made up to: 2025-08-31
Confirmation statement
Next due: 2026-09-03
Last: 2025-08-20

Officers (3 active · 3 resigned)

ARCHER, Valerie Jean→
secretary · appointed 2002-08-22
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
ARCHER, Stephen Charles→
director · ~74y · appointed 2002-08-22
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
ARCHER, Valerie Jean→
director · ~74y · appointed 2002-08-22
View their other companies + combined net worth →
Active
@UKPLC CLIENT SECRETARY LTD→
corporate-nominee-secretary · appointed 2002-08-20 · resigned 2002-08-22
Resigned
DANIELS, James→
director · ~74y · appointed 2004-09-01 · resigned 2007-12-14
Resigned
@UKPLC CLIENT DIRECTOR LTD→
corporate-nominee-director · appointed 2002-08-20 · resigned 2002-08-22
Resigned

Click a director name to see their full track record across all companies.

Mortgages & charges

1
Total charges
0
Outstanding
0
Active lenders
Status:Lender:1 of 1 shown
TypeProperties
satisfied
National Westminster Bank
National Westminster Bank PLC
Debenture1 property17/12/200315/06/2022

Recent filings (63 total)

accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2026-05-13
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2025-09-02
change-registered-office-address-company-with-date-old-address-new-address
address · AD01
2025-08-01
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2025-05-29
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2024-08-31
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2024-07-22
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2023-09-06
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2023-06-25
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2022-08-22
mortgage-satisfy-charge-full
mortgage · MR04
2022-06-15
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2022-05-29
mortgage-charge-whole-release-with-charge-number
mortgage · MR05
2022-02-01
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2021-09-11
accounts-with-accounts-type-unaudited-abridged
accounts · AA
2021-05-31
confirmation-statement-with-no-updates
confirmation-statement · CS01
2020-10-19